Please correct the errors below.

East 88 Beach Lounge in Serenity Resort is a pretty cool place. Located on Phuket’s east coast about halfway between Chalong and Rawai and directly facing Lone Island, it’s a beachside venue with a lot of panache to it and, as its name implies, a perfect venue to simply lounge around with a glass of wine and some nibbles.

Not surprisingly, given the lounge’s 88 moniker, the drinks menu deals in figures of eight, with batches of eight cocktails, eight red and white wine recommendations, as well as eight sparkling wines, and so on. We order a bottle of ‘The Vines’, an Australian shiraz (1,800 baht) and it nicely complements a plate of baby chicken legs with coleslaw and a splash of spicy potato chips (270 baht + +).

It’s atmospheric here, with multi-coloured lighting arrangements, a cool bar to the side and the serene expanse of Chalong Bay flanking the resort. On the other side of Serenity’s swimming pool, a Filipino jazz band is setting up just as the sun is setting, bathing the top of Lone Island’s western jungle-covered slopes in golden light. The tide is out and a moonscape of sand, rocks, and puddles stretches a third of the way out to the island but when the tide is in East 88 Beach Lounge is simply a glorious place to be. The menu features a whole range of western (with strong Mediterranean influences) and Thai dishes along with a kids’ section and in fact one child can eat a free dish when dining with two adults.

The band starts to swing, the wine flows freely, and happy chatter is all around. We tuck into a grilled whole sea bass with a smattering of vegetables (570 baht + +) and it’s a whole project to itself, it’s that big a dish, and it should be said that less-challenging fish filets are served here, too. East 88 Beach Lounge offers live jazz on Thursdays, Thai traditional dancing on Tuesdays and a ‘Sunday Sundowner’ with a burger buffet and happy hour prices.

However good the live jazz is, because the speakers are facing the restaurant from the other side of the pool and because both the lead guitar and singer run through the restaurant’s sound system, the whole setup is amplified in more ways than one, making small talk a little difficult. Still, it’s good to hear the not-so-usual evergreens and the band does a fine job.

Summing up, East 88 is quite unusual as it is an agreeable venue for both daytime and evening dining. Perfect for families looking for space, along with activities for kids to get involved with during the day, and an intimate nighttime dining spot, this is not fine-dining per se but the setup is all the more relaxed because of it. All prices are subject to 10% service charge and 10% VAT.